Robots Battle Robots in World Championship

May 29, 2014---Each spring, high school science students from around the world gather for the FIRST Robotics Competition. Started in 1989 by Dean Kamen, who's best known for inventing the Segway scooter, the competition was held this year in St. Louis--blending science, engineering, technology, and sports for an experience that not only helps build minds but can even change kids’ lives.

Robots Battle Robots in World Championship

May 29, 2014---Each spring, high school science students from around the world gather for the FIRST Robotics Competition. Started in 1989 by Dean Kamen, who's best known for inventing the Segway scooter, the competition was held this year in St. Louis--blending science, engineering, technology, and sports for an experience that not only helps build minds but can even change kids’ lives.

We’re not competing with the science fair here, we are competing with the Super Bowl, we are competing with the World Series, we’re competing with all the things that kids aspire to do because they’re fun and they’re exciting. And FIRST, in every way, is every bit as fun, every bit as exciting, every bit as rewarding to these kids as any other sport they do. It’s not like a sport, it’s the ultimate sport.

PHILLISHA CHAMKING TEC TEAM MEMBER

We want to inspire and change out culture. That’s what we want to do, that’s the message of FIRST. To inspire kids, and get them involved in technology. We think it’s really important to change our culture, because we need engineers in the future, and by doing FIRST we’re changing our culture slowly. By going to outreach, by going to the science museum and teaching girls about technology, because there’s not a lot of girls in the field and we kind of want to change that.

ELVIS ARTEAGAWOLVERINES TEAM MEMBER

The biggest part of being on the build team you would think is just to build a robot, but it’s never just building the robot because in the end, during the competitions, things happen unexpectedly and it’s just a reflection of life. That’s one of the big things about being in a team, you have to build that camaraderie to basically be able to face these challenges in the future because, of course, nothing ever goes right. That’s just something you have to learn.

DEAN KAMEN

When I saw 20 years ago how passionate kids can get about sports, about entertainment, I realized all we had to do was take science, technology and mathematics, and package it as an aspirational activity to be done only after school. You don’t end the season with quizzes and tests like you do in the classroom, if we could end our season of working hard to learn science and technology with a double elimination tournament like in any other sport.

CHRISTOPHER AYUSOWOLVERINES TEAM MEMBER

When I joined in 9th grade, I didn’t know anyone except for my sister. Then when I started being social, I started to see a change in my life because I didn’t have that many friends to hang around with. So this has taught me to come out of my shell.

DEAN KAMEN

What these kids are really building in six or eight weeks is not a robot. They’re building self-confidence, self-respect.

BRIAN OLSENKING TEC LEAD MENTOR

I have kids who are super shy coming into robotics, because it kind of fits that nerd persona a little bit. And they come into King Tec and they realize that that stuff they’re interested in is actually really cool and then they start to become a little bit more outgoing and really start to, you know, become proud of who they are and what they do. And to the point where they’re not afraid of themselves anymore and they can start to tackle problems with greater and greater magnitude.

Robots Battle Robots in World Championship

May 29, 2014---Each spring, high school science students from around the world gather for the FIRST Robotics Competition. Started in 1989 by Dean Kamen, who's best known for inventing the Segway scooter, the competition was held this year in St. Louis--blending science, engineering, technology, and sports for an experience that not only helps build minds but can even change kids’ lives.